Improved construction and equipment of ships of war



' UNITED4 STA-TES PATENT OFFICE.

R. Gr. MCDOUGALL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,322, dated June 28,1864.

.To all whom it may concern..- y

Be it known that I, Capt. R. G. MCDOU- GALL, of the city, county, andState of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in theConstruction of Iron-Glad or other Vessels; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact de scription thereof, whichwill enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 represents a longitudinal verticalsection of this invention, the line w x, Fig. 2, indicating the plane ofsection. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same. Fig. 3 is atransverse vertical section of the same, taken in the plane indicated bythe line y y, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detached horizontal section of one ofthe ports and portclosers, taken in the plane indicated by the line a z,Fig. l, in a larger scale than the previous figures. Fig. 5 is anoutside view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention consists in certain improvements in the construction andshape ot' the beak of the ram; also, in the use of a stand pipe closedby a valve in its bottom, and extending above the waterdine in such amanner that a convenient egress for divers from the vessel is affordedfrom the interior of the vessel for the purpose of removing torpedoes oreiecting other submarine operations; further, in forming the after partof the vessel with double-ogee lines in such a manner that Vroom isafforded for the side screws and rudders within the ordinary bilgelineof the vessel, and that said parts are fully protected against accidentsor against the elfect of a hostile attack 5 also, in concentrating thechains or ropes of two or more rudders on one central drum in such amanner that by the motion ot` this `single drum two or more rudders canbe operated simultaneously-5 also, in the employment or use of a rodextending from the steering-gear to the throttle-valve of thesteam-engine in such a manner that by turning said gear the pilot fromhis stand is enabled to throttle the steam oft' or onto either thestarboard or port engine, thereby giving them more or less revolutions,so as to steer the vessel by the difference in the speed of herpropellers; also, in two or more turntables, each provided with a seriesot radiating guns, in combination with an iron-clad casemate completelxTcovering and protecting said guns and turn-tables, and provided with aseries of radiating ports in such a manner that each gun on the table ortables can be readily trained from starboard to port or in line with thekeel, and one gun canbe loaded while the other is being discharged;further, in the use of an oblong cylindrical casemate with an archedroof in such a manner that great strength is combined with ample room towork the turntables and the broadside-guns; also, in a port-closerconsisting of two sliding doors hinged to spring'levers, which areplaced in an angular position in such a manner that the muzzle of thegun, when brought in contact with said levers in the act ot' running outthe gun, will open the port, and when the gun recoils said port willclose automatically; nally, in the application of a movable top to thepilothouses, in combination with one or more screws, in such a mannerthat said top can be readily raised when the vessel is not in action, toadmit of tresh air, and when pre-l paring for action it can be readilyfastened down.

A represents the hull of my vessel, which is built with a dat bottom andprovided with a beak, B, at the stem, and another beak, B', at thestern. These forward beaks are ot' peculiar form. They are provided witha long prong', a, below the water-line, and with another short prong, b,above. The space between the two prongs forms a movable steelcutting-edge, c, and a log raft or any other similar obstruction whichmay come in the way of the vessel, instead of passing up the inclinedupper edge of the prong a and lodg ing on the vessels deck, is caught bythe concave cutting-edge between the two prongs and cut through orbroken, and the progress of the vessel is not impeded. I

I have attached a rain at each end of my vessel, in order to render itmore formidable for offense and defense.

E is a hawse-pipe, and Dis a well or standi pipe, which are secured in'the fore part ot' the vessel. They rise above the water-line, and thepipe D is closed by a plug or valve, d, which is suspended from a chain,e, wound around a windlass or other suitable mechanism. This pipe servesas ameans of egress for divers who may be engaged in submarlneoperations-such as removing torpedoes 1n the channel or obstructions ina harbor-and in runnin gfore and aft and the other set cross wise, asclearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. By these double ogeelines a recess is formed on each side of the hull to receive the twoside propellers, C, and rudder Z. The shafts of these propellers extendthrough sockets or stuffing-boxes inserted in the vessel in the ordinarymanner, and their outer bearings are in uprights t', which form aportion of the skegsj.' These skegs are cut out, as indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 1, and they form the steps for the rudder-posts 7c, whichare situated behind the propellers, and to which the rudders Z areattached in the usual fmanner. The rudders and propellers are situat:dwithin the ordinary bil ge-lines of the vessel, and they are protectedby rails m., extending around them to the skeg j, and from it to thehull of the vessel, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. lf a third propeller isused at the stern of the vessel, as shown in red outlinein Fig. 1,similar guard-rails extend back far enough to form a protection for thisadditional p opeller and rudder. By this alrangement the propellers andrudders are entirely out of harms way. They are not liable to run foulof some obstruction floating on the water, neither can they easily behit bythe enemys shot, and if it should happen that one of the.propellers should be disabled, the other one retains itspropelling-power, and the vessel is not helpless. By having the two sidepropellers one independent of the other the vessel can be turned on itscenter, and thereby great facility in maneuvering the same is obtainedin bringing the port-ranges to bear in action. I

The rudders are operated by chains or ropes u, which concentrate upon adrum, o, from which a chain or rope, p, extends to the pilothouse F. Ihave shown two pilot-houses, though only one will be in use at a time,and the other may be considered as a reserve in case the first should bedisabled. The drum o connects bya rod,p, (see Fig. 1,) with thethrottle-valves of the steam-engines, so that in case of an emergencythe pilot is enabled to throttle the steam on or oit' without giving asignal to the engineer, and to steer the vessel by the difference in thespeed 'of the two pro pellers. The pilot-houses F are supported by thecasemate Gr, which occupies the space amidships of the vessel. Each ofsaid pilothouses is provided with a movable top, g, which can be raisedwhen it is desired to admit fresh'air, and fastened down by means of ascrew, r, when preparing for action. The

casemate G is made in the form of an oblong cylinder, as clearly shownin Fig. 2, and its` roof H is arched to obtain the greatest possiblestrength. The two ends of the casemate are occupied by the turn-tablesI, each ot' which is furnished with four (more or less) guns, J,radiating from the center with their muzzles standing outward. Byrotating the turn-tables each gun can be readily brought opposite tooneof the port-holes K, and thus trained to any desired point of thecompass, and while one gun is discharged another is in convenientposition for swabbing and introducing the charge. y l

The number of guns and of port-holes in the casemate may be increased ordecreased? as circumstances may demand, and, if desired, a series ofbroadsideguns may be placed between the two turn-tables. The ports K areclosed by shutters L, which are hinged to the outer ends of converginglevers M, and slide or roll back in guide-grooves on the outside of thecasemate, as clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Fig. 4X shows the shape of the V-shaped guide-groove.

The inner ends of the levers M are connected by hinges s to the edges orsides of the port-holes, and springs t, pressing on said levers, have atendency to hold the shutters L closed, as shown in Fig. 4.. If the gunis run out,the muzzle of the same, on coming in contact with theconverging levers M, forces open the shutters, and when the gun isdischarged and recoils the shutters, impelled by the springs t, closeautomatically.

By referring to Fig. 4 it will be seen that the levers M, on beingforced apart, describe segments of circles round the pivots of thehinges s as centers, and in order to prevent the shutters being forcedoff from the sides of the casemate or vessel said pivots must either bearranged to move in longitudinal slots or the connection at the outerends of the levers must be so arranged that it compensates for thecircular motion.

1t is obvious that the improvements hereinbefore described areapplicable singly or coin'- bined, and some of them can be used forvessels of any description as well as for ironclads.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The removablecuttinged ges c, applied to a beak or prow of any suitable form.

2. Thewell or stand-pipe D, closed by an adjustable valve, d, incombination with the vessel A, constructed and operating substantiallyas and for the purpose shown and' described.

3. In combination with the aforesaid well D, the separate hawsepipe E,extending down through the bottom of the vessel, and operating incombination with the chain f in the manner and for the purposesubstantially as described.

4. Forming the after part of the vessel with double-ogee lines g h, incombination with screws and rudders, arranged substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

5. In a vessel constructed substantially as herein described, -the opennet-Work skegs j and fore-and-aft braces m, applied to the vessel A,substantially in the manner herein described, to form counter-braces,and to receive and protect the screws and rudders, and at the same timegive free access of water to the screws and rudders.

6. In a vessel constructed substantially as herein described, connectingthe chains or ropes of two or more rudders upon one central drum, o,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. Connecting the steeringgear with the throttle-valve of the engines inthe manner and for the purposes herein specied.

8. The use of two or more turntables,I, with guns J, in combination withan oblong cylin- R. G. MCDOUGALL.

Witnesses z J. P. HALL, JOHN D. Snoou.

